Boycotting Visiting Leaders' Congress Speeches

[lpetrich]

On Thursday, June 22, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a speech before the US Congress.

Modi tells Congress that U.S.-India ties represent 'defining partnership of this century'

Modi alluded to the "millions" of Americans of Indian origin, including Vice President Kamala Harris, who sat on the dais with him alongside House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. Others in attendance were Indian American members of Congress such as the Progressive Caucus chair, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.; Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a Biden surrogate; and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., the ranking member of the House's select committee on China.

WATCH: India’s Prime Minister Modi delivers remarks at joint meeting of Congress | PBS NewsHour

But Modi bristled at a reporter’s question about his country’s commitment to democratic values as the country has seen an erosion of religious, political and press freedoms under his watch.

“Democracy is our spirit,” Modi, who rarely takes questions from journalists, said through an interpreter. “Democracy runs in our veins. We live democracy and our ancestors have actually put words to this concept.” He said India has “proved that democracies can deliver and when I say deliver, this is regardless of class, creed, religion, gender.”

Yet Modi has faced criticism over legislation amending the country’s citizenship law that fast-tracks naturalization for some migrants but excludes Muslims, a rise in violence against Muslims and other religious minorities by Hindu nationalists, and the recent conviction of India’s top opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, for mocking Modi’s surname.

Nevertheless, later in an address before a joint meeting of Congress, Modi insisted that in India “diversity is a natural way of life.”

“We are home to all faiths in the world, and we celebrate all of them,” added Modi, in a line that brought many cheering lawmakers to their feet.

 

[lpetrich]

However,

The premier’s description runs counter to accusations by rights groups of widespread attacks and discrimination against India’s Muslims and other minorities under Modi.

A group of more than 70 lawmakers wrote to Biden this week urging him to raise concerns about the erosion of religious, press and political freedoms during the visit. At least six Democratic lawmakers —Democratic Reps. Cori Bush of Missouri, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Greg Casar of Texas, Jamaal Bowman and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York — boycotted Modi’s address to Congress, because of concerns about his human rights records.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will boycott Prime Minister Modi's joint address to Congress. (pic link)" / Twitter

I will be boycotting Prime Minister Modi's address to Congress tomorrow, and I encourage my colleagues who stand for pluralism, tolerance, and freedom of the press to join me in doing the same.

In 2005, Narendra Modi was denied a U.S. visa because of his violations of religious freedom, including his complicity in an anti-Muslim riot that left over 1,000 dead. India currently ranks 161 out of 180 in the World Press Freedom Index - in part due to Modi's raids on BBC India's offices and his court challenges against a critical documentary. Additionally, a report from the U.S. Holocaust Museum found that India is at high risk for mass killings - the 8th most at risk of 162 countries studied.

A joint address is among the most prestigious invitations and honors the United States Congress can extend. We should not do so for individuals with deeply troubling human rights records particularly for individuals whom our own State Department has concluded are engaged in systematic human rights abuses of religious minorities and caste-oppressed communities."

 

[lpetrich]

Cori Bush, AOC and More Liberal Democrats Boycott Modi’s Speech to Congress - The New York Times
Ocasio-Cortez joins other squad members in boycotting Modi speech | The Hill

Ilhan Omar on Twitter: "Prime Minister Modi’s government ..." / Twitter

Prime Minister Modi’s government has repressed religious minorities, emboldened violent Hindu nationalist groups, and targeted journalists/human rights advocates with impunity.

I will NOT be attending Modi’s speech.

I WILL be holding a briefing with human rights groups to discuss Modi’s record of repression and violence.

Thanks to all the people who came to post about how no one cared, only to help make sure millions got to see the tweet

Can’t wait for you all to up lift the briefing tomorrow as well

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib on Twitter: "It’s shameful ..." / Twitter

It’s shameful that Modi has been given a platform at our nation’s capital—his long history of human rights abuses, anti-democratic actions, targeting Muslims & religious minorities, and censoring journalists is unacceptable.

I will be boycotting Modi’s joint address to Congress.

 

[lpetrich]

At Rashida Tlaib's Congressional site:
Tlaib, Bush, Omar, Bowman Joint Statement on Boycotting Prime Minister Modi’s Joint Address to Congress - Rashida Tlaib
Representatives Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Cori Bush (MO-01), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), and Jamaal Bowman (NY-16)

When it comes to standing up for human rights, actions speak louder than words. By bestowing Prime Minister Modi with the rare honor of a joint address, Congress undermines its ability to be a credible advocate for the rights of religious minorities and journalists around the world.

Modi has a notorious and extensive record of human rights abuses. He was complicit in the 2002 Gujarat riots that killed over 1,000 people, leading to the revocation of his U.S. visa. His government has openly targeted Muslims and other religious minorities, enabled Hindu nationalist violence, undermined democracy, targeted journalists and dissidents, and suppressed criticism using authoritarian tactics like Internet shutdowns and censorship.

It is shameful to honor these abuses by allowing Modi to address a joint session of Congress. We refuse to participate in it and will be boycotting the joint address. We stand in solidarity with the communities that have been harmed by Modi and his policies. We must never sacrifice human rights at the altar of political expediency and we urge all Members of Congress who profess to stand for freedom and democracy to join us in boycotting this embarrassing spectacle.

I checked on India's ratings in quality of democracy.

 The Economist Democracy Index lists India at 7 out of 10, not much worse than the US at 8, but much better than China at 2.

 Freedom in the World lists India at 67 out of 100, the US at 83, and China at 9.

 

[lpetrich]

Another leader will be addressing Congress before long: Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

President? Israel has a parliamentary system, where the Prime Minister does the work of governing, and where the President acts like a master of ceremonies, with a mostly ceremonial role.

Progressives plan boycott of Israeli president’s speech to Congress

What they're saying: Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), a member of the progressive "Squad," told Axios on Thursday that he's "probably going to be boycotting" the address.

• "I've been very outspoken regarding the treatment of Palestinians," Bowman said. "The United States is important in ensuring accountability and uplifting the human rights of Palestinians."
• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said she is “not planning to” attend the speech.
• Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) declined to say whether she will attend.

 

[lpetrich]

Ilhan Omar on Twitter: "There is no way in hell ..." / Twitter

There is no way in hell I am attending the joint session address from a President whose country has banned me and denied @RashidaTlaib the ability to see her grandma. A thread

WE SHOULD NOT BE INVITING THE PRESIDENT OF ISRAEL—A GOVERNMENT WHO UNDER ITS CURRENT PRIME MINISTER BARRED THE FIRST TWO MUSLIM WOMEN ELECTED TO CONGRESS FROM VISITING THE COUNTRY—TO GIVE A JOINT ADDRESS TO CONGRESS.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s address comes on behalf of the most right wing government in Israel’s history, at a time when the government is openly promising to “crush” Palestinian hopes of statehood—essentially putting a nail in the coffin of peace and a two-state solution.

Netanyahu: Israel must 'crush' Palestinian state ambitions, Palestinian Authority furious - The Jerusalem Post - "The veteran Israeli politician has revealed his true goal, critics say: no Palestinian state and a Palestinian Authority that serves only as Israel’s “subcontractor”"

Which would involve Israel annexing the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

It comes as extreme right wing Israeli cabinet members directly attack President Biden, saying Israel is 'no longer a star' on the US flag

Israel 'no longer a star' on US flag, says Ben Gvir | Middle East Eye - "Israeli minister hits out at US president, who said Israeli governing coalition 'most extreme' Israeli government he has seen"

So all the US's support for Israel is not good enough for him.

It also comes as the Israeli government is pushing through what legal experts describe as a judicial coup to centralize power and undermine checks on their power, prompting months of mass demonstrations against the government throughout Israel.

Israel protests flare over Netanyahu's new Supreme Court bill | Reuters

And above all, it comes during the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank in history, immediately following Israel’s largest incursion into the occupied West Bank in two decades, one that flattened city blocks, and killed at least a dozen people

Israel attacks Jenin in biggest West Bank incursion in 20 years | Palestinian territories | The Guardian - "At least eight Palestinians killed and dozens injured as major Israeli offensive targets city of Jenin"

Human rights groups, legal experts, and most of the international community has condemned the increasing violations of international law and human rights.

Human rights in Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories Amnesty International

These are all deeply concerning trends—especially considering the fact that we provide Israel with nearly $4 billion in annual military aid.

It is also not lost on me that the last time an Israeli leader was invited to give a joint address to Congress, he openly defied President Barack Obama and attacked his Middle East policy from the House Chamber.

The US foreign-policy establishment is very willing to let Israel's leaders walk all over them, it seems.

While executive power in Israel is vested in the Prime Minister and his cabinet, the president as head of state as traditionally served as a “faithful policy ambassador” for the government in charge.

President Herzog, Netanyahu’s Good Cop to Washington - Opinion - Haaretz.com

Last month, I opposed the invitation for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address a joint session based on his government’s human rights record.

And this month I will not attend a similar address from Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

The United States can and should use its diplomatic tools to engage with the Israeli government, but giving the current government the honor of a joint televised address sends the absolute wrong signal at the wrong time.

 

[bilby]

Shit, even the Israelis don't like the Israeli government right now.

https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2...ament-initial-approval-judicial-overhaul-bill

If the US government is smart, it will absolutely not have any public meetings with anyone from the Israeli government until the current unrest has been resolved.

So doubtless they will already have started some public meetings with people from the Israeli government.

 

[lpetrich]

Why progressives like AOC are right to boycott Israeli President Isaac Herzog | Peter Beinart | The Guardian - "For Democratic leaders like Joe Biden, Herzog embodies the good Israel. Unfortunately, they are wrong"

Why are President Biden and Democratic leaders in Congress so eager to welcome Isaac Herzog, the president of Israel, to Washington this week? Because he’s an Israeli leader not named Benjamin Netanyahu.

... Unlike Netanyahu, Herzog has a long history of at least theoretically supporting a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, which would grant citizenship to the millions of Palestinians who now live as stateless subjects under Israeli control. In 2017, Herzog proposed a freeze on many Israeli settlements. As Israel’s president in 2021, he publicly apologized for Israel’s 1956 massacre of 48 Palestinian citizens in the village of Kfar Qasim. It’s hard to imagine Netanyahu showing that kind of humility and grace.

But he isn't much better than Benjamin Netanyahu.

... In 2016, Herzog said Labor needed to ditch its reputation as “Arab lovers”. When his remarks drew criticism, he doubled down, vowing that he would never “prefer the interests of the Palestinians”, who constitute 20% of Israel’s citizens and roughly 50% of the people under Israeli control.

... In 2016, he demanded that Israel complete the separation barrier begun under the premiership of Ariel Sharon, 85% of which lies inside the West Bank and thus essentially confiscates land that might have been part of a Palestinian country. He also called for routing the barrier in between different Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, thus severing the half of the city Palestinians claimed as their capital. As president, Herzog has travelled to some of the most remote and radical settlements in the West Bank and extolled their importance to the Zionist project. In 2021, when Ben and Jerry’s tried to stop selling ice cream in West Bank settlements, Herzog denounced the move as “a new sort of terrorism”.

But even when Herzog has argued for territorial withdrawal, he’s often done so in the language of Jewish supremacy. “In about a decade,” he warned in 2015, “the Arabs between the Jordan and the Mediterranean will be a majority and the Jews a minority.” Israel must therefore divest itself of West Bank Palestinians because “I don’t want 61 Palestinian MKs in Israel’s Knesset. I don’t want a Palestinian prime minister in Israel.”

In any case, many Americans are likely to get a quick lesson on how a parliamentary system works.

 

[lpetrich]

Pramila Jayapal tells protesting crowd at Netroots Nation: Israel is a racist state - YouTube

This provoked a lot of outrage, and PJ issued a statement clarifying her position: Rep. Pramila Jayapal on Twitter: "(pic link)" / Twitter

At a conference, I attempted to defuse a tense situation during a panel where fellow members of Congress were being protested. Words do matter and so it is important that I clarify my statement. I do not believe the idea of Israel as a nation is racist. I do, however, believe that Netanyahu's extreme right-wing government has engaged in discriminatory and outright racist policies and that there are extreme racists driving that policy within the leadership of the current government. I believe it is incumbent on all of us who are striving to make our world a more just and equitable place to call out and condemn these policies and this current Netanyahu government's role in furthering them.

have always worked toward a two-state solution that allows both Israelis and Palestinians to live freely, safely, and with self-determination alongside each other and that is still what I am absolutely committed to. I also know that the many policies of the current Israeli government, including rampant settlement expansion, make it extremely difficult for Palestinians who simply want the same rights as their Israeli neighbors to believe such a solution is possible. On a very human level, I was also responding to the deep pain and hopelessness that exists for Palestinians and their diaspora communities when it comes to this debate, but I in no way intended to deny the deep pain and hurt of Israelis and their Jewish diaspora community that still reels from the trauma of pogroms and persecution, the Holocaust, and continuing anti-semitism and hate violence that is rampant today.

As an immigrant woman of color who has fought my whole life against racism, hate, and discrimination of all kinds and viscerally feels when anyone's very existence is called into question, I am deeply aware of the many challenges we face in our own country to live up to the ideals of our nation here. The only way through these difficult moments is to have real conversations where we develop our own understanding of each other and the traumas we all hold. These are not easy conversations but they are important ones if we are ever to move forward. It is in that spirit that I offer my apologies to those who I have hurt with my words, and offer this clarification.

We know that the status quo is unacceptable, untenable, and unjust. It will take all of us - elected officials, movement activists, advocates, and communities - to work together for real progress.

 

[lpetrich]

That was not enough, and Congress voted on H.Con.Res.57 - 118th Congress (2023-2024): Expressing the sense of Congress supporting the State of Israel. | Congress.gov | Library of Congress

Expressing the sense of Congress supporting the State of Israel.

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that—

(1) the State of Israel is not a racist or apartheid state;

(2) Congress rejects all forms of antisemitism and xenophobia; and

(3) the United States will always be a staunch partner and supporter of Israel.

The vote on it
R: Y 217, nv 4
D: Y 195, N 9, P 1, nv 7
Ttl: Y 412, N 9, P 1, nv 11

Voting "Present": Betty McCollum D-MN
Voting against it: Jamaal Bowman D-NY, Cori Bush D-MO, André Carson D-IN, Summer Lee D-PA, AOC D-NY, Ilhan Omar D-MN, Ayanna Pressley D-MA, Delia Remirez D-IL, Rashida Tlaib D-MI

PJ herself voted for it: Rep. Pramila Jayapal on Twitter: "My statement on H.Con.Res. 57: (pic link)" / Twitter

Today I voted yes on H.Con.Res. 57. This resolution had clear political motivations. I've made my views clear on this topic in the statement l released on Sunday and I intend to continue to speak out on this issue. l will not play into Republicans' political games of distraction that they clearly prefer over doing the work of real legislating to help working families and poor people across our country.

 

[lpetrich]

Democrats Locked in Stupidest Fight About Whether Israel Is Racist | The New Republic - "Democrats love to attack their own members who dare speak out on Israel."

Representative Pramila Jayapal was the latest victim of the pattern after she called Israel—a state that has committed decades of human rights abuses, engaged in land dispossession and home demolition, upheld separate systems of law, and maintained a militarized police state against Palestinians—a “racist state.”

...
“The Palestinian people deserve self-determination and autonomy,” Jayapal said to a group of activists at the conference, which set off the outrage machine in Washington.

Republicans have gone on an unsurprising full-throated offensive against Jayapal and her progressive colleagues (while ignoring vile antisemitism among their ranks). But Democrats too have cynically jumped in on attacking one of their own for echoing what an array of human rights organizations have already said.

Like from right-wing activist Nick Fuentes.

“Israel is not a racist state,” House Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries, Katherine Clark, Pete Aguilar, and Ted Lieu insisted in a joint statement Sunday. “Certainly, there are individual members of the current Israeli governing coalition with whom we strongly disagree. That is also the case with respect to some on the other side of the aisle who we serve with in the United States Congress.”

Noting
Manu Raju on Twitter: "Pramila Jayapal, the progressive leader, apologizes afer calling Israel a “racist state” on Saturday and says today: “I do not believe the idea of Israel as a nation is racist.”
Now Hakeem Jeffries and his leadership team issue a statement: “Israel is not a racist state.” (pic link)" / Twitter

Jeffries has called twice-impeached and twice-indicted former President Donald Trump a “racial arsonist” and the “grand wizard of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.” With statements like these, Democrats have posed far-right conservatism as a fundamental threat to America’s status as a democracy. But when it comes to the same issues in Israel, tone-policing seems to be their main concern.

And it was not just leadership. Representative Ritchie Torres—who like Jeffries has collected troves of donations from pro-Israel groups like AIPAC, which has deliberately worked to tank Democratic candidates and support election denialists—insisted that Israel is a “multiracial democracy” that affords people “equal protection under the laws.”

 

[lpetrich]

AIPAC-Funded Reps Condemn Jayapal Remarks on Israel – Sludge

Josh Gottheimer, Hakeem Jeffries, and other Democrats critical of Pramila Jayapal's remarks on Israel recently reported taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from AIPAC's PAC.

...
The statement was circulated by Democrat Rep. John Gottheimer (N.J.), who has taken more than $159,000 in bundled donations from AIPAC’s PAC so far this year, according to a recent disclosure. Money-in-politics website OpenSecrets says that Gottheimer received more than $217,000 from AIPAC last cycle, making it his largest contributor.

Several of the Democrats who signed the Gottheimer statement had also recently disclosed taking large sums of bundled donations from AIPAC PAC. Rep. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.) signed the statement after taking nearly $210,000 from AIPAC PAC since the beginning of the year. Another signer, Rep. David Trone (D-Md.), has received more than $116,000 from AIPAC PAC this year. Several more signers have received more than $20,000 from AIPAC PAC this year, including Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.), and Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.).

...
House Democratic leadership came out with a separate statement condemning Jayapal’s remarks on Monday. In a post to Twitter, House Majority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Democratic Whip Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Conn.), Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) and Vice Chair Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) declared that “Israel is not a racist state.”

...
Jeffries has received more than $419,000 from AIPAC PAC in the form of earmarked donations so far this year, according to data from the Federal Election Commission, and Clark has received more than $49,000 in bundled funds from the group.

Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) quote tweeted the leaders’ statement and said that she agreed with them in their rejection of any description that Israel is racist. Frankel has received more than $34,000 from AIPAC PAC already this year.

Will they use the Francis Bacon defense? "Sure I took those bribes, but I didn't let them influence me."

 

[lpetrich]

Tlaib, Bush Joint Statement on Boycotting Israeli President Herzog’s Joint Address to Congress - Rashida Tlaib

Bestowing President Herzog with the rare honor of a joint address to Congress while the Israeli apartheid government continues to enable and directly support racism and brutal settler attacks is a slap in the face to victims, survivors, and their loved ones—including the families of Americans murdered by this regime like Shireen Abu Akleh and Omar Assad.

Then arguing that Israel treats Palestinians in apartheid fashion.

This year alone, the far-right Israeli government has approved the construction of over 13,000 illegal settlement units on Palestinian land—which the U.S. government has repeatedly condemned—and the Israeli army has killed at least 177 Palestinians. Members of the far-right Israeli government have made disgusting statements dehumanizing and denying the existence of Palestinians, calling for Palestinian villages to be “erased,” celebrating nationalist racists, and promising that a fully sovereign Palestinian state will not be created. This is the government that we are protesting.

A rather unexpected participant:
Rep. Nydia Velazquez on Twitter: "I support self-determination for all peoples, whether they be Israeli, Palestinian, or Puerto Rican.
I believe the Israeli govt is undermining this ideal with their actions to weaken Democracy and expand settlements.
That's why I won't be attending President Herzog’s address. (pic link)" / Twitter

Jonathan Holiff on Twitter: "Bernie Sanders and at Least Six Other Progressive Democrats Skip Herzog's Congress Speech Over Israel-Palestine. (links)" / Twitter
Not just Rashida Tlaib and Cori Bush, but also Bernie Sanders, AOC, Ilhan Omar, Jamaal Bowman, and Nydia Velazquez.

BS: “It is no great secret that I strongly oppose the policies of Israel’s right-wing, anti-Palestinian government. We provide them with $3.8 billion in aid. We have a right to demand they respect human rights.”

 

[laughing dog]

Proclaiming the reasons for non/attendance to a voluntary event is a form of virtue signaling.

Unless the USA places expectations about gov’t behaviour or conditions on its aid prior to the giving, it has no right to place demands after the fact.

 

[Derec]

The Hamas Caucus (aka "The Squad" led by Sergeant Sandy) not attending the event is hardly surprising. And Sanders has been a disappointment on the issue of Israel too. He even had Israel-hater Linda "The Cockroach" Sarsour as his surrogate in 2020. So him being absent is not a big surprise either.

Never heard of that Nydia woman though.

BS: “It is no great secret that I strongly oppose the policies of Israel’s right-wing, anti-Palestinian government. We provide them with $3.8 billion in aid. We have a right to demand they respect human rights.”

Why does he never talk about the many orders of magnitude more severe disrespect for human rights by Palestinians? They get a lot of money from the US as well, and they use them to pay terrorists.
RELEASE: Bipartisan Group of 50 to Administration: Negotiate an End to Martyr Payments to Terrorists

This is what their friends the Palestinians are doing lately:
Tel Aviv: Seven injured in Palestinian car-ramming and stabbing attack
‘How do I go on?’ Funerals held for 4 Israelis killed in West Bank terror attack

But when IDF hunts down these terrorists and kills a few, then according to the Hamas Squad and Bernie they don't "respect human rights". Bullshit!

 

[Derec]

AIPAC-Funded Reps Condemn Jayapal Remarks on Israel – Sludge
Will they use the Francis Bacon defense? "Sure I took those bribes, but I didn't let them influence me."

I am more interested in Jayapal's defense of her harebrained statement.

 

[Derec]

Democrats Locked in Stupidest Fight About Whether Israel Is Racist | The New Republic - "Democrats love to attack their own members who dare speak out on Israel."

What is stupid is that rank Israel hatred is becoming fashionable on the left-wing of the Democratic Party.

Representative Pramila Jayapal was the latest victim of the pattern after she called Israel

She is not a victim. She is a perpetrator of a hateful and stupid statement.

—a state that has committed decades of human rights abuses,

I doubt any state is innocent of having committed any human rights violations over decades.
That said, Israel respects human rights far more than the Palestinians, and also far more than countries like Iran that The Squad, Jayapal - as well as this hack Pham Thakker - attack hardly ever compared to how often they attack Israel.

engaged in land dispossession and home demolition,

Israel tried trading land for peace. It worked with Egypt when the Sinai peninsula was returned decades ago. It failed with Palestinians when Israel completely withdrew from Gaza and the Palestinians promptly started shooting thousands of rockets at Israel from there.
Does Pham Thakker view indiscriminate firing of projectiles at civilians as "human rights abuses" or does he reserve that term for Jews only?

upheld separate systems of law, and maintained a militarized police state against Palestinians—a “racist state.”

It's not a race issue. Judea and Samaria is disputed territory - final status and borders should be determined in negotiations - and there is an ongoing state of hostility between Israel and Palestinian terror groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad. So of course there will be a military presence and martial law there. It has nothing to do with race or ethnicity though - Arabs within Israel are subject to the same "system of laws" and enjoy full civil rights. That is much more than can be said for any future Palestinian state.
Abbas wants 'not a single Israeli' in future Palestinian state
I am sure Phat Thakker has no problem with that.

“The Palestinian people deserve self-determination and autonomy,” Jayapal said to a group of activists at the conference, which set off the outrage machine in Washington.

Palestinians could have had a state in 2000. Arafat rejected the compromise plan and called for a campaign of terror (the so-called "Second Intifada") that led to the deaths of many Israelis and Palestinians. And Gazans could have a peaceful strip of land just to themselves in 2005 but they instead chose to shoot rockets into Israel.
Let's not lose sight of history here.

Republicans have gone on an unsurprising full-throated offensive against Jayapal and her progressive colleagues (while ignoring vile antisemitism among their ranks).

No vile antisemitism should be ignored. Many Democrats ignore antisemites on the left. Not even Louis Farrakhan and his supporters are shunned from the Democratic Party like they should be.

 

[Derec]

Voting "Present": Betty McCollum D-MN
Voting against it: Jamaal Bowman D-NY, Cori Bush D-MO, André Carson D-IN, Summer Lee D-PA, AOC D-NY, Ilhan Omar D-MN, Ayanna Pressley D-MA, Delia Remirez D-IL, Rashida Tlaib D-MI

A rogues' gallery of Israel haters.

 

[ZiprHead]

Voting "Present": Betty McCollum D-MN
Voting against it: Jamaal Bowman D-NY, Cori Bush D-MO, André Carson D-IN, Summer Lee D-PA, AOC D-NY, Ilhan Omar D-MN, Ayanna Pressley D-MA, Delia Remirez D-IL, Rashida Tlaib D-MI

A rogues' gallery of Israel haters.

What is there to like? The way they are stealing land they're damn close to being Russian.

 

[robnisch]

Criticizing Israel's government policies is not antisemite. This is just more RW labeling. Hell, are all the protesters in Israel antisemite?